In a rare show of collaboration, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have teamed up to expand password-less login support across mobile, desktop, and browsers.
According to Verizon’s annual data breach report, passwords are infamously insecure, with weak and easily guessable credentials responsible for more than 80% of all data breaches. While password managers and multi-factor technologies provide incremental improvements, Apple, Google, and Microsoft are collaborating to develop easier and more secure sign-in technology. The tech giants announced on Thursday that they are expanding support for the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium’s password-free sign-in standard, which means you’ll soon be able to sign in to an app or website on a nearby device using your smartphone, regardless of the operating system or browser you’re using. You’ll unlock your smartphone with the same activity you do several times a day, such as fingerprint verification, a facial scan, or a device PIN.
Users will also be able to use their FiDO sign-in credentials, or “passkeys,” on numerous devices — including new ones — without having to re-enroll each account.
While the three firms have long supported the FIDO Alliance’s password-less sign-in standard, users must still sign into each website or app with each device before using the password-less functionality. The three tech titans will roll out password-less FIDO sign-in standards across macOS and Safari, Android and Chrome, and Windows and Edge over the next year. Users will be able to sign in with a passkey on an Apple device while using the Google Chrome browser on Microsoft Windows.
Because signing in involves access to a physical device, hackers will have a much harder time compromising login data remotely.
